NHL Player Safety makes decision on Derek Ryan spear against Hoglander
Last night's game between the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks saw the physicality dial up since the first game. Hits were being thrown all over the ice and the refereeing was extremely questionable, including one missed call on Derek Ryan.
The veteran Oiler caught Canucks forward Nils Hoglander with a nasty spear right the groin. While just casually skating by, Ryan disguised and timed the spear to not get caught, while Hoglander went down in obvious discomfort.
Fans of the Canucks called for NHL's Player Safety Department to take a look at this play for supplemental discipline, but today they revealed that no extra penalty will be coming to Ryan.
NHL officiating called into question after brutal performance in Oilers Canucks series
It was a clearly dirty play, but honestly should not warrant supplementary discipline from the league, especially in the playoffs. The reality was that last night's game was extremely poorly officiated and greatly affected both sides. Even the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast called out the inexplicable penalty calls and non-calls, which is extremely rare to see. One of the most questionable non-calls was Darnell Nurse hitting Elias Pettersson head first into the boards.
The officiating has been a great subject of debate so far in the series, and the Oilers certainly feel like they've been on the wrong side of it through the first two games. With the Oilers special teams and powerplay being so crucial to their success, the Oilers almost rely on drawing penalties off of their elite players. The Canucks have had more powerplay opportunities through the series despite clearly committing more penalties than they've been called for, and have been clearly embellishing to draw penalties too.
At the end of the day, the team needs to do their best to put this officiating out of their mind, push through the physicality in playoffs, and keep playing their game.
| POLL | ||
Do you think NHL Player Safety should have suspended Ryan for this play, or should the refs have called a penalty? | ||
| Suspension | 72 | 32.6 % |
| Penalty | 67 | 30.3 % |
| Fine | 17 | 7.7 % |
| Nothing | 65 | 29.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
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